After decades, Lighthouse Christian Book and Gift closing
What most shoppers didn't know is that the decades of profits from the store all went to building churches in Third World countries, from
At the end of the month the store, just atop the
"It's bittersweet. I think we'll be missed," said owner
Her son,
He said many churches and individuals who used to buy from them now order directly from companies online. And the store was in need of high-cost upgrades for computer systems and new chip reader technology.
"And the environment of retail, with all the online, has just changed,"
The store was originally opened in
"The only two tenants there were us and a liquor store," she said. "People got a laugh out of that, but we got along really well with him."
In 1989 they built the free-standing building they now occupy. Next door is a small standalone building that houses the office of
While the store had decades of solid sales and profits, recent years have been a strain.
"With music, people download it digitally now," Matt said. The store now sells about one-third of the Christian music it once did.
And he said churches that used to buy communion cups and wafers, curriculum, certificates and bulletins from them now order them online.
Individuals buy more online and many don't buy religious gifts often at all, he said. "People are more apt to give money as a gift for confirmation or a baptism. Years ago everyone got gifts for occasions like that."
Cathy never took any profits out of the book and gift store, instead using the funds to support a mission of church building that the Bristol family and others in the community became involved in long ago.
She was serving on a national board when she happened to meet Dois Rosser, a wealthy east coast auto chain dealer who along with the Rev.
Rosser asked Bristol to go to
"People give a dollar and a dollar is spent," Bristol said.
The international trips made by her and Lonnie and others from
In 2001 they traveled to
"We flew to the
She said the Cuban government was not averse to them coming as they brought money and things like baseball equipment that was donated to local groups.
"They liked us coming in," Bristol said. "We'd declare how much money we were bringing in to build a church and it gave people there work."
Bristol said the churches, while often one of the better buildings around, were built relatively inexpensively, often for a few thousand dollars to about
Bristol said they never made a big public splash out of her family's and other local residents' involvement in the church-building work.
"People asked why we didn't talk more about what we did," she said. "It's not our legacy, it's God's."
Follow
___
(c)2017 The Free Press (Mankato, Minn.)
Visit The Free Press (Mankato, Minn.) at www.mankatofreepress.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
EDITORIAL: Expose stealth Trumpcare law to sunshine | Editorial
Second Democrat says he’ll run against Paul Ryan
Advisor News
Annuity News
Health/Employee Benefits News
Life Insurance News